2 Yohanes 1:11

1:11 because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds. ¹ 

2 Yohanes 1:10

1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, ² 

2 Yohanes 1:5

Warning Against False Teachers

1:5 But now ³  I ask you, lady (not as if I were ⁴  writing a new commandment ⁵  to you, but the one ⁶  we have had from the beginning), ⁷  that ⁸  we love one another.

2 Yohanes 1:7

1:7 For ⁹  many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as ¹⁰  Christ ¹¹  coming in the flesh. ¹²  This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! ¹³ 

2 Yohanes 1:12

Conclusion

1:12 Though I have many other ¹⁴  things to write to you, I do not want to do so with ¹⁵  paper and ink, ¹⁶  but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face, ¹⁷  so that our joy may be complete. ¹⁸ 

[1:11]  ¹ sn Shares in his evil deeds. Giving a public greeting could be understood by an onlooker to suggest agreement with the (false) teaching of the opponents and is thus prohibited by John.

[1:10]  ² sn Do not give him any greeting does not mean to insult the person. It means “do not greet the person as a fellow Christian” (which is impossible anyway since the opponents are not genuine believers in the author’s opinion).

[1:5]  ³ tn The introductory καὶ νῦν (kai nun) has some adversative (contrastive) force: The addressees are already “living according to the truth” (v. 4) but in the face of the threat posed by the opponents, the author has to stress obedience all the more.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn The words “if I were” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity in English.

[1:5]  ⁵ sn An allusion to John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:7-8.

[1:5]  ⁶ tn “The one” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English.

[1:5]  ⁷ sn See 1 John 2:7.

[1:5]  ⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause indicates content.

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Technically this ὅτι (Joti) clause is subordinate to the verb περιπατῆτε (peripathte) at the end of v. 6, giving the reason why the readers should walk in the commandment to love one another. But BDF §456.1 notes that subordination “is often very loose” in such cases and can be translated “for.” Thus the ὅτι assumes something of an inferential sense, drawing an inference based on what has preceded.

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn “As” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English, since (like in the same confession in 1 John 4:2) ᾿Ιησοῦν (Ihsoun) should be understood as object and Χριστόν (Criston) as complement of an object-complement double accusative construction.

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “Messiah.”

[1:7]  ¹² tn This is the same confession as in 1 John 4:2 except the perfect participle used there is replaced by a present participle (ἐρχόμενον, ercomenon) here. It is not clear why the author changed from a perfect participle in 1 John 4:2 to a present participle here. The perfect participle suggests a reference to the incarnation (past). The present participle could suggest a reference to the (future) second advent, but based on the similarity to 1 John 4:2 it is probably best to take it as referring to the incarnation.

[1:7]  ¹³ sn The statement This person is the Deceiver and the Antichrist! is a metaphor (metonymy). The author does not mean that each individual is to be identified as the Antichrist. The opponents are compared to the Deceiver (Satan) and the Antichrist since they are accomplishing Satan’s work and preparing the way for the Antichrist.

[1:12]  ¹⁴ tn “Other” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity in English.

[1:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “by means of.”

[1:12]  ¹⁶ sn Presumably the author means he would rather say the additional things he wants to say to the recipients in person rather than by letter (with paper and ink).

[1:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “speak mouth to mouth,” an idiom for which the English equivalent is “speak face to face.”

[1:12]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “be fulfilled.”